Chess concert CD?- Page 4

Posted: 2/10/06 at 4:34pm

Ashley, don't worry about missing the Murray Head videos. I like Murray and I guess I can see why he sounds the way he does (i.e. excessively whiny) on the concept recording of "Pity the Child" if I look at the song from a different perspective, but he sounds as if he can barely squeak out the notes in those videos. That note at the end of "A Taste of Pity"? What the hell was THAT?!

I remember doing some research on the Danish recording a little while ago and found a thread with a link to a site with it for sale, but it seemed awfully expensive and I quickly put it out of my mind. I think I'll just wait until it shows up on eBay.

[NCGuy]

Posted: 2/10/06 at 4:42pm

She ends up alone at the end (although I'm not familiar with the multiple versions of the show) because Anatoly cared enough for her to throw the match and return to his country.

Sweetestsiren, I was referring specifically to the concept recording (to me the theme (of the concept recording, anyway…); the Endgame on the London album is drastically different lyrically from the Broadway version (on the original recording, Anatoly doesn’t throw the match).

Is the Danish Tour recording finable anywhere

I’ve seen copies on ebay (they seem to run around $50, though). I think there's a copy posted there now...just search under “Chess musical” or "Chess ABBA.”

The Danish Cast recording is, for the most part, exactly what the ORIGINAL Chess was, in London.

Sweeedboy, I wasn’t lucky enough to see the original production (and I’ve not yet heard the Danish recording), but how did Endgame play out in the London staging? Was it still a number between Svetlana and The Russian, or was it closer to the later Broadway version?


Updated On: 2/10/06 at 04:42 PM

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 2/10/06 at 4:50pm

Okay... well, being a poor college student, it looks like that recording's going to have to wait. Thanks for the info, guys.

And I believe you, Lexi, but I still have a morbid curiousity about those clips. Especially since now I want to hear the awful high note! It's more the principle of the thing... RealMedia files should just go away already.

Posted: 2/10/06 at 5:07pm

Heh. I'll convert them to MPEG and send them your way.

[Labashier]

Posted: 2/10/06 at 9:21pm

Is the one you have the first print with the cut songs (Der Kleine Franz, Commie Newspapers, etc)? If so, I'd love to bug you for a copy as well.

[BSoBW3]

Posted: 2/10/06 at 9:21pm

I have the original, with the songs not cut.

[rKrispyt]

Posted: 2/10/06 at 9:45pm

I saw this as well and really enjoyed it. What really fascinated me was how it was perfectly cast...however NOW I'm questioning that, lol.

From the discussions going on, it seems as though Sutton was way off on Svetlana...maybe it was because she was, as someone stated, thrown in and not originally planned...?

But hey, how bout that Norm Lewis though, eh? Love him singing that role. It makes me melt...

Updated On: 2/10/06 at 09:45 PM

[BSoBW3]

Posted: 2/10/06 at 9:59pm

Svetlana really depends on the production.

I always pictured her as a beautiful Russian blonde.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 2/10/06 at 10:07pm

And I always pictured as sort of a dowdy contrast to Florence. Its a role that is really up to a director's concept - but if you can sing the hell out of the role - I'd say go for it - whatever type you are - its a very non specific physical role.

[Fizz]

Posted: 2/10/06 at 10:14pm

didn't care for Sutton, who was too innocent for Svetlana.

I don't really think Svetlana is the opposite of innocence, either, though. She's just someone who got caught up in an unfavorable situation.


My school did Chess last year and our Svetlana had thick dark brown hair. It fit her well.

Its a brilliant show and I'd love to see a revival...

[#1Elphie]

Posted: 2/10/06 at 10:20pm

Sorry I'm a little late in chiming in here. There's so much I could comment on that I don't know where to start!

"I know this has been said a million times but i guess it needs restating. The Danish Cast recording is, for the most part, exactly what the ORIGINAL Chess was, in London. It is the original story with most of the music. This story focused more on Florence and Anatoly and placed secondary status on Freddie/Svetlana/etc. Freddie doesn't even play chess in the second act as he returns as a TV correspondant..."

Sweedboy, that's the version that I saw (I saw the show in New Zealand last year). It's the first version that I became familiar with, and I thought it worked really well. I'd love to see a Broadway revival with a book similar to the original.

Now I'm off to formulate my thoughts on the main characters!

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 7:02am

Wait, wait, wait. The rap during One Night in Bangkok was Adam's idea?

[misschung]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 8:59am

Well the original is a little rap-like

[GuitarGirl]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 9:15am

I'm a little late to this, but I've heard and seen recordings of the Chess Concert and it was very good. Josh Groban was okay, a little boring. Julia was ok. Raul and Adam were great. I would go see Chess if it were revived, but the book might need work. It was a little confusing.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 10:19am

I myself am a fan of anything Tim Rice has written, so I wasn't surprised that I adored "Chess." There's a little good in each version, and eventually I hope to stitch that all together into my own revision effort.

That said, the reason there's a book problem with "Chess" is that whoever's working on it at the time loses the point. It can't be both a love triangle and a story of chess amid Cold War politics unless there's an extremely good balance between the two. Otherwise, the concept of trying to pin the chess metaphor on both the love and the Cold War politics falls flat and it becomes (as sweetestsiren's sig unwittingly put it) "just projecting your intellectualism on people who have NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"

I know of a young playwright who has done services as a dramaturg on several productions of "Chess," and he turned out a very good version of the Broadway/U.S. tour script that found a comforting middle. (PM me if you want to see...er...know more.) It's not the best one ever done, but it has the most hope when Samuel French will only license the Broadway version in the States,